BUSINESS BRIEFS.(A)

AEROSPACE/DEFENSE

Alliant, Boeing fall on shuttle halt

Suppliers fell as NASA grounded its shuttle fleet pending its Columbia probe. Alliant Techsystems, whose Thiokol unit makes rocket boosters for space shuttles, fell 12%. Boeing slid 1.5%, and Lockheed Martin 3%. The '86 Challenger explosion halted shuttle flights for 32 months.

** Alliant stood by its '03 profit and sales guidance issued Jan. 26.

INTERNET

LendingTree trimmed on refi fears

Fears that a refinancing wave will soon ebb trounced a strong Q4 report. The online mortgage firm beat views by 2 cents with 19 cents a share vs. a 29-cent loss last year, as sales …